The first game home after a lengthy road trip is usually a time for Rick Hahn to sit in the dugout and debrief a throng of reporters on recent developments of the season. Most of those sessions in the last couple years have included lengthy injury recaps.
One of those two things is still in place, but it's not the one you want. Hahn indeed had to provide summaries for the most recent fallen White Sox, but he did it through a Zoom call.
The good news is that the bad news has been worse. Running them down:
Injuries
Nick Madrigal: It originally looked like a wrist injury, but it's officially a separated shoulder. He'll be headed to the 10-day injured list when the White Sox have to officially alter their roster for reduction from 30 to 28 players, but Hahn said that Madrigal isn't done for the year:
“We are optimistic that with some treatment and rehab Nick will be able to return to action for us at some point before the end of this month,” Hahn said. “However, there is the potential at some point, perhaps in the offseason, that he’s going to need a procedure to stabilize the shoulder long term.
“That’s a preliminary estimate. But right now, he’s headed to the 10-day IL. Again, we are optimistic he’ll be able to rejoin us on the field active by the end of this month.”
It's not Madrigal's throwing arm, which is good since he needs every bit of it to play defense as well as he does. The question is whether this will affect his power, and while your response may question what power I'm even talking about, it's kinda like a pitcher who succeeds at 88 mph being asked to win at 85. Even guys with low thresholds for success have to clear them.
Edwin Encarnación: He experienced some inflammation of the left sternovlavicular joint on Tuesday, which, unlike Madrigal, was the area he immediately physically indicated on the field. Hahn said he may be able to avoid the injured list, and the White Sox have options for DH.
Tim Anderson: He's heading to Schaumburg to rehab, with the intent of rejoining the White Sox next week. His presence would allow the White Sox to reduce the filler at second base (Ryan Goins?) and provide right-handed power if Encarnación isn't an option (Yermín Mercedes?).
Reynaldo López and Carlos Rodón: James Fegan says that the White Sox expect both starters to be "sidelined for weeks instead of months." Rodóns MRI came back clean, so the hope is that he just had a battle with soreness. López just started throwing, as he battled a stomach bug* in Schaumburg.
(*One byproduct of the pandemic is that teams can no longer sum up every non-injury absence as "flu-like symptoms." Kris Bryant and Terry Francona are the most notable cases of specifying gastrointestinal distress, so there may not be a real graceful way of disguising a case of trouser chili anymore.)
The fifth starter spot
With Rodón out, the White Sox don't have a firm plan for what would be his next start on Saturday. Hahn eliminated the two most intuitive calls: promoting Dane Dunning or elevating Ross Detwiler.
Regarding Dunning, the White Sox may be taking cues from López, Rodón and Jimmy Lambert, taking care to make sure that he's prepared for the intensity of a real game, or at least in a regimented place to overcome whatever "dead arm" period may arise in his return to a routine.
"I can say right now, Dane Dunning's not going to be the guy we go to on Saturday when Carlos' first vacated spot comes up," Hahn said Wednesday. "He's continuing to build up his endurance and essentially is a guy who is coming back as a starter post-TJ without the ability to go on rehab assignments.
"We have a very strict program he's following, and it doesn't quite include making his major league debut come this Saturday. But at some point we're going to let him in."
As for Old Hoss Detwiler, it's good to see that the Sox are doing what they can to avoid falling into the same trap where they ask too much from a good thing going. Detwiler will likely factor into Saturday's game, but as part of a bullpen game/opener situation, rather than as a starter expected to go five.
Update
The White Sox moved Madrigal to the injured list to accomplish half of the required player reductions. For the other, they optioned Nicky Delmonico to Schaumburg.
(Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire)
